Environmental Impact Assessment Practical Book - Assignment Example

The practical book is part of your assessment for the unit. Your answers from the practical book will need to be entered into a word document template and uploaded online via moodle on the above date for assessment.The practical book contains four separate pieces of work worth 40% of your final grade for the unit. The practice book will be provided to you in week 4 so you can read and prepare before you bring it along to the field trip.You will be required to:• Demonstrate your knowledge of the range and type of biophysical, social, and economic impacts upon the environment and how they can be managed (10%).

• Construct an impact assessment matrix to determine the potential social, economic, and biophysical impacts associated with the construction and operation of the approved Armidale Telecom Tower development on North Hill (10%).• Following the 5 key steps of the EIA process, evaluate the proposed impacts and suitable mitigation measures for the Clarks Gully component of the Straits Hillgrove mine expansion (10%).• Evaluate the effectiveness of safeguards currently in place to reduce environmental impacts of two developments adjacent rivers in Tamworth (i) the upgrade of a road (ii) an agricultural development (10%).

Students will be given a broad introduction and material for each of the projects we assess during the field trip. Students will form groups to gather data and collate field information for each project. We have allocated some time on the last day of the intensive school (externals) to allow groups to collate information, and for each student to present this information in their Field Practical Book.Note: Data collected for Field Practical Books is done in groups, but each student must submit a word-processed version of the Practical Book for individual assessment.

Practical books will be submitted online via moodle.Practical 1:Understanding the range and type of impactsWeighting:10%Demonstrate your knowledge of the range and type of biophysical, social, and economic impacts upon the environment and how they can be managed.

Introduction: EIA is a process The object of the EIA process is to identify the possible risks to the environment that may result from a proposed action. This information is then used to decide whether to proceed with the action and on what conditions. The process is intended to integrate environmental management within the planning for proposals, ensure proponents assume responsibility for the protection of environmental values that may be affected by their proposals, form a basis for statutory decision-making on whether a proposal meets ecologically sustainable development targets, establish relevant management and monitoring conditions and incorporate stakeholder and community views into decision-making.

It sounds like there are a heap of things to consider when trying to identify and assess environmental impacts….well the short answer is - there are - but the process is made easier by remembering five key steps. 1. Impact identification (scoping environmental issues) 2. Determine the severity of potential impacts (magnitude, sphere of influence, importance) 3. Impact interpretation and assessment (combined effects of all impacts) 4. Management and mitigation of impacts (e.g. preparation of environmental management plans) 5.

Impact monitoring and evaluation (e.g. audits) We will go through each one of these and the information you need to adequately address each one. 1. Impact identification The component relates to the environmental, social and economic factors which may be impacted by a development and the particular components of these factors which are likely to be affected. TASK 1 Fill in the missing gaps to identify other biophysical, social and economic factors and components of factors: Factors Components of factors; nature of the impact Biophysical Water Quantity, quality, reliability, accessibility, surface, ground, wetlands Soil Erosion, salinity, nutrients Fauna Abundance, community composition, key species, habitat needs, endangered ecological communities, complexity, heterogeneity, functioning Flora Abundance, community composition, key species, habitat needs, endangered ecological communities, complexity, heterogeneity, functioning Land Biomes, topography, elevation, microclimate Climate Temperatures, rainfall, vegetation type, proximity of large water bodies, latitude, elevation Socio-economic Noise levels, frequency Air dust, pollutants Livelihood employment, quality of living conditions, value of land etc.

Health/safety Diseases, crime rates Cultural value Sacred sites Education Earning capacity, quality of life, decision making processes, Occupation Income, crimes rates Place of residence Distance from site, number in the residence, Religion Number of churches, mosques, temples To manage and improve our interactions with the environment, we first must know which development activities will be conducted and what are the resulting impacts of those activities upon the surrounding environment. TASK 2: Fill in the missing gaps and identify which activity goes with which type of impact Development activity Type of impact Truck transport of mining product Noise pollution, making air to be dusty, degrading the soil surface, knocking some fauna on the roads etc.

Waste release from the mining industries Degradation of aquatic habitat and drinking water supply Releases or spills from stored industrial wastes and s septic systems or leaking underground petroleum storage systems Soil and groundwater contamination Blasting Noise pollution, blasted rocks hitting or killing fauna, Blast-induced ground vibrations, 2. Prediction of magnitude When using a matrix to identify and evaluate potential impacts, the development activities are the columns and the environmental components are the rows.

When a particular activity affects a particular environmental, social or economic factor, it gets a tick. Development activity Impact Dust, air pollution Degradation of aquatic habitat Soil and groundwater contamination Truck transport of mining product √ Altered stream flow √ √ Storage of mining waste √ Waste release from the mining industries √ √ √ Releases or spills from stored industrial wastes and s septic systems √ √ Leaking underground petroleum storage systems √ √ Blasting √ TOTAL = 12 Once we understand which activities cause which impacts we then need to understand how significant the interaction is.